Stylianos Kinley
| faction = Emerald Legion | ageoftga = }} Stylianos Kinley, commonly called Styl, is a dwalf born to elven and dwarven parents in Libaterra. He lost his wife and child to the Blood Fever. He helped defeat Lamashtu Gallu after an intense battle in Alent during the King and Queen's Ball and later chose to investigate Threshold to better understand what was going on. He was unable to prevent the Threshold Riot from taking place, and drew the ire of Alentian mages, Sarquil warriors and demons from the hordes, and ultimately participated in the Battle of Alent which ended the Third Age. In the Fourth Age, he has a romantic affair with Baroness Qarinah and makes a living as a blacksmith in Andaria while serving the Emerald Legion as an auxiliary. Biography Third Age Early Years Learning the Trade Born to a dwarven father and an elven mother, Stylianos Kinley grew up in the forests in the north of Libaterra. He was the third child born to them, and grew up to be the largest. His sisters were ten and fourteen years his elder. He grew up rather lonely, being one of the few dwalves the village ever had. However, he did make a few friends. Several decades his senior, of course. One was named Finbar Bateson. He was the captain of the small group of village warriors. He taught the dwalf what he could of the way of the sword. Vincent Shaw Rains was another friend. A druid by trade, he was always interesting to speak with. Styl's father eventually took him and started to make a smith of his son. Styl found the task enjoyable, shaping things with his hand and hammer. His musculature, while never exactly 'small,' increased as he grew more skilled with his father's trade. Tragedy in the Family Styl was rather hasty with dating and marriage, for someone that would live centuries. However, with the approval of the pair by Styl's parents, he and a local woman named Lysa were allowed to join when he was thirty. At near that time, his father started having him adjust a customer's set of armor. Said the client was important, but that the armor needed refitting. A few months later, as Styl was turning 36, he was presented with four gifts. From his mother, a pendant made of elder wood. From his father, the suit of armor they had worked on for months and a sword to go with it. The blade was an interesting shade of blue, particularly for a sword. From his friends Vincent and Finbar, he received his black cloak. And last but greatest, his wife announced to the attendees of the small party that she was pregnant. Some months after, however, an unknown but devastating disease, which would be known as the Blood Fever, struck the village. Styl and the pregnant Lysa got out of the village early, with him taking all of his gifts. But with no horse, it was slow travel. Lysa's water broke out in the wilderness. No magical midwives came to help them out of the storybooks. He tried helping, but both the child and Lysa died. He broke down. His wailing attracted a large lion. It crept up on him, seeing only prey. In despair, hearing the lion, Stylianos lashed out. The blade crackled with black lightning, blasting the beast back when he struck it. He raised a cairn over Lysa. Twice, actually. The first time he tried to focus his power so that he might carve words into it and blew the rocks apart, though Lysa's body was untouched. Stylianos mourned the two lost loved ones for eleven years. After grieving for over a decade, he began searching for a way to control his magic, so that he might destroy whatever caused the strange disease which took his loved ones from him. Godslayer Era Meetings in Alent Stylianos eventually came to stay in Alent. His stint in the inn and the realization that it was eleven years after his wife and child were gone made him resolve to actually do something about them. Their deaths were caused by the Blood Fever's appearance in his village. He would, therefore, destroy the plague after learning from the drunken Grand Alliance delegates staying in the inn that the plague might be magical in nature. Coincidentally, almost immediately after making this resolve over tea, a Sarquil warrior named Qarinah and a druid named Virgil Chelms walked through the door. Curious about the Plague of Undeath Virgil had mentioned during his talk with Qarinah, Stylianos quietly requested an explanation, making the Alliance members Shyralis and Rhylian Loras, who Virgil had caught at the door, wait. After an interesting conversation, Shyralis got fed up and insulted Stylianos, so Styl left the inn. He got involved in a bladesmith's business as a guard against thieves. As thanks for helping him, the bladesmith forged him a sword and got it enchanted. It focused the wild power within him. The dwalf thanked him and left. Incident at the Ball During the King and Queen's Ball at the Celebration of the Harvest Moon, Stylianos started a conversation with Rain and Mathias, offering the pale woman a drink to distract her from her boyfriend Razoul and the Sarquil lieutenant Lamashtu al-Khadra dancing. Qarinah appeared before him again, quite drunk and boisterous, as opposed to her usual, more or less reserved self. Styl kept feeling the strangest things happening, like someone was working at the crowd. He couldn't tell who, though. He wound up escorting the over-drunk Qarinah to her room after she downed Paladin's Breath. He was affected by the tension in the air and very nearly went to bed with her. By remembering and concentrating on Lysa, however, he was able to resist, though he promised Qarinah he would return to her. Styl returned to the ball, clutching his new sword's hilt tightly. After reviewing with Rain and Mathias the situation and the strange feeling he was having, he cast two rough spells on both of them, and to his surprise, both worked, or at least caused no harm. However, when he accompanied Rain to speak to Sultan Khalid al-Saif and Sultana Axikasha Keiran, whatever was behind the rampant lust of the evening overwhelmed his resistances. He returned to the inn and was about to open the door to Qarinah's room when he heard a shout that sounded like Razoul. He sneaked over to the door and listened, figuring out Lamashtu's true nature from the words he overheard. Styl ran like a man possessed back to the ball in search of Rain. They had to save the imperiled captain. He gathered a part of the Shadowstrike team while Rain spoke with Shyralis and Antigonus de Ardyn. The dwalf led the group to the inn and up to Lamashtu's room, where Qarinah tried to stop them. They interrupted what looked like an energetic engagement between two lovers, but it became apparent fairly soon that something else was going on. Rain, angered and hurt by Lamashtu stealing Razoul from her, shot the Sarquil lieutenant with a crossbow, but instead of killing her like it should have, the woman removed the bolt from her leg like it was a splinter. Lamashtu kept trying to get Rain and possibly others to join in, but Styl knew about crossbows, and wasn't fooled or attracted by the strange magic in the room which appeared to have dulled most people's senses. His rage had returned full force and he again began to lose control of his power as shadowy ripples and black lightning ran down the blade in his hand. It turned out that Lamashtu wasn't human at all; she was actually a disguised demon who called herself Lust and who had plans for the citizens of Alent. Lust asked Qarinah to serve her as she considered herself Qarinah's superior officer, but the warrior rejected her offer and remained on the side of the rest of the party much to Lust's annoyance. Seeing the room getting too crowded to her liking, Lust escaped out the window with Razoul still in her arms and unleashed a demonic lion, which she had kept locked up in a cage in the room, upon the group. At this point, a berserker dwarf named Orkis muscled through the crowded doorway and attacked the beast. After fighting it for a while, at Rain's behest, Stylianos followed Lust out the window. He was witness, however, to the fruition of Lust's plot. Her nightmares were born from a union of her magic and Razoul's seed. The creatures proceeded to attack anyone and everyone in sight as Lust unleashed her power which made more Sarquil women from her squad transform into succubi who then went into blood frenzy. Stylianos tried to protect Rain, who was going over to her captain to help him, but was intercepted by Lust herself. She succeeded in seducing him at last, but he accidentally performed an Ejactulatinoamanum while he was in her mouth, blowing the two of them apart. He retrieved his blade, which Lust had forced him to drop, and would have killed her had two of her lackeys not gotten to him before the blow struck. She drained energy from a third and used it to heal herself. The dwalf almost became Lust's toy, but luckily a fireball thrown by Antigonus downed one of the demon's wardens, freeing his sword hand to slay the other. Drained by the entire ordeal, he had the dangerous idea to do as Lust herself did; drink the blood of a living succubus and absorb its power. He did so with the one that had been burned, restoring his power to him. He had to return to Shadowstrike to be healed, however. He began carrying the unconscious Qarinah and ended up helping the dwarf who'd barged in and helped set the lion on fire. They were soon joined by a welcome sight: reinforcements from the Black Guards, led by Razoul's second-in-command Sergeant Vitani. The battle raged on and even with help from the Black Guards it seemed Lust was merely toying with them all while letting her succubi and nightmare minions attack anyone in sight without mercy. Soon after, the succubus Stylianos had partially drained attacked him again. However, he distracted her long enough to drain more of her power. The flood of it almost overwhelmed him, his eyes glowing brightly red. Qarinah warned him against drinking too much of the demons and their power in. It was then that Stylianos saw Razoul's subordinate Vitani, who had been taken by Lust's power and words, attack Rain. With an angered growl, he threw a spell at Vitani. Black lightning shot from the dwalf's fingertips, hitting the possessed Sergeant of the Black Guard. Styl realized just how much power he'd absorbed, and grew afraid. He was told to guard Shadowstrike's associate, the dwarven necromancer Janus Todd, while he cast a spell to aid the Sarquil. Lust's nightmares attacked soon enough, but Styl and Orkis held them off. Janus was able to cast his spell to raise the dead as undead warriors before the dwalf and dwarf were overwhelmed by the demons. With living corpses aiding them, the Black Guards, albeit distraught by the abominations they were fighting alongside with, were more easily able to hold their own. However, Lamashtu was still a big problem. A plan was formulated for Orkis, Styl, and Qarinah to attack Lust. Even then, Lust had the upper hand. She tried to force the dwalf to choose between attacking her through Qarinah or backing down. He came up with a third option, and got Qarinah out of the way of his attack. He prayed to any deity that was listening for Lust's defeat. The gods seemed to have listened because at that point many women--demons included--got hit by what appeared to be a spell of mysterious origin, making several of them fall down in pain. Because of this, Lust did not block Styl's magic-augmented strike, and after blasting him, Qarinah and Orkis away, she fell to her knees and was subdued by the Anti Mage Police who had come to help. As she was being hauled away, Lust claimed that what had happened had only been the beginning of something greater and that the true threat would soon emerge from Threshold, a shadowy Alentian district, to cover the entire city in darkness. The demon's ominous words troubled Styl, but he put them aside as he focused on other matters. Once he had made sure Qarinah was okay, he checked on Rain who was also clutching her stomach in pain like many women were, and he comforted Razoul before Ying Zi, one of the Shadowstrike officers, arrived. She recommended 'Valiant' go and seek medical attention. Styl instead looked for Vitani, finding her crashed through a wall of stones and in need of aid. Styl brought her to Ying Zi, walked towards the collapsed inn, and promptly passed out. Investigating Threshold Styl later woke up in a nearby infirmary where several wounded warriors and mages had been taken to after the battle. He saw Qarinah there and spoke to her, and the two expressed their feelings and how they'd both been manipulated by Lust earlier. Still, Qarinah nevertheless seemed interested in Styl and suggested they could try things from a clean slate if an opportunity presented itself, and Styl agreed to this. Qarinah had to leave soon after since she still had to report to the Sultana about the events that had transpired recently, so she bid him farewell. Styl, however, decided to follow Qarinah for the time being, hoping to figure out what would happen in Alent next now that the demon threat had been neutralized for the time being and if he could be of any use to her and the Sultana. He caught up with Qarinah just in time to see her in the Sarquil Downs district interrogating a caged, apparently demonic prisoner who had been left unguarded. When the dwalf noticed the prisoner, who had been calling himself Refan d'Zarnagon, make a threatening yet oddly erotic move on Qarinah, Styl decided to step in and see if Qarinah needed assistance. Refan was caught off guard by Styl's sudden appearance and eventually let Qarinah go while he was being interrogated by Qarinah who remained surprisingly calm despite her potentially dangerous predicament. The tense conversation ended abruptly when two Sarquil guards arrived, carrying an unconscious Sarquil woman whom they'd found in the alley and which explaiend their absence from their guard post. While Qarinah checked in on them, Refan addressed Stylianos directly, having noticed the dwalf being curious about what connection Threshold had to Lust and the recent demon attacks. Refan, who had been to Threshold before, offered a deal to the dwalf: he'd help Styl sneak into Threshold if Styl freed him in return. Styl, realizing his opportunity to investigate this mystery deeper had come, agreed to Refan's terms and helped him secretly pick the magical lock which was keeping the cage door locked. When Qarinah and one of the Sarquil guards decided to take the injured Sarquil woman to the infirmary, Styl approached Qarinah and told her that he was suddenly feeling very tired and weakened and that he'd retire to his inn for the rest of the night. Qarinah accepted his explanation and left after briefly exchanging words with him. Styl stuck around in the plaza long enough to distract the remaining guard while Refan freed himself and knocked the guard unconscious. The unlikely duo then headed into the night towards Threshold. Styl and Refan eventually reached the border which separated the Downs and Threshold districts but found the border to be guarded by several Alentians. They realized that sneaking into the quarantined district would require both skill and luck and waited for an opportunity to act. That opportunity arose when a squad from the Alentian Defense Force arrived to give the Anti Mage Police officers a hand, and the two groups began talking about new orders which detailed increased patrols on the Threshold border in anticipation of something. Understanding that they should use this momentary distraction to their advantage, Styl and Refan hatched a plan to use Refan's flying ability to glide to the rooftop beyond the border and mask their presence with Styl's magic. Thanks to the distraction, it worked. Refan warned Stylianos of the dangers of Threshold once they had entered the district, and soon after it proved true. Apparitions of Lysa and Qarinah appeared before Styl and made him confront a truth he had been hiding even from himself. He was the killer of Lysa and his own child. His recklessness and fear of the plague had driven him to escape his home when the first case had been reported, and that in turn had led to Lysa bearing on the road. The crushing weight of this truth almost overcame the dark knight, but he managed to bear the burden. He told Refan he was ready to continue. They made their way deeper into the district. However, at some point Styl felt weak all of a sudden and decided to stop by to rest for a spell. Confronting Darkness Stylianos awoke in an unfamiliar room, his things set aside. He took his things and left, but was then confronted by by a demon, Piru, who was in the guise of Refan while the real Refan seemed to have disappeared. "Refan" tried to "play father" with the dwalf, and then challenged him to a hunter's game: first one to draw blood would win. Styl quickly realized that he wasn't dealing with the real Refan at all, but didn't have time to ponder where the real Refan had disappeared into when he witnessed something else. Qarinah appeared in a very seductive manner, surprising and confusing the dwalf, but it was soon revealed that it was just another of Piru's guises as part of the game he was playing with the dwalf. Due to cutting the demon's forearm when he charged, Styl thought he'd won. Piru, however, argued that he'd won, due to Styl kissing "Qarinah," meaning 'blood' could include other bodily fluids like spit. Thankfully, the demon was distracted when the pair ended up witnessing a confrontation between the succubus Vani, a girl named Kaisa Blackwell, and a demon named Vassago who was in the process of kidnapping a boy who turned out to be Refan's son, Gabriel d'Zarnagon. Using this distraction to his advantage, the dwalf managed to groin-shot Piru and ran towards the other four, curious to see what exactly was going on and to get away from his too intimate encounter with the younger demon. As events unfolded rapidly, Styl ended up carrying the confused Vani and ran with Kaisa toward an imposing tower in the middle of Threshold after having watched Vassago leave with Gabriel and having fended off the relentless Piru, setting off an explosion in the latter's face. Styl gathered information, like their names and something of the situation, from the girls on the way after Vassago, who was heading for the tower where Jahi Gallu, the Matron of Threshold's demons, lived. Styl tried throwing a fireball at Vassago to have him drop Refan's son, but Threshold screwed with his senses again, his fireball fizzling out less than a third of the way up. As they stopped at the foot of the tower, they were met by a mysterious woman, Helena the Grey, and her entourage. They all entered the darkness of the tower together, figuring that they'd be safer in a bigger group. Despite being cautious and wary of one another, they didn't take into account that the dark power of Threshold was strongest within Jahi's tower and that it ended up messing with their senses. It became apparent to Styl that he was suddenly alone in the dark, his only company the whispers in his mind. In the tower, his darkness took physical form, confronting him with the base desires he'd repressed and pressuring him to let the darkness reign in his mind. The dark knight almost let it, but at the last moment, he subjugated the darkness, accepting its place in himself and sending it back. Discovering the Truth The tower's spell being broken, Styö found himself near some stairs and he began climbing, but a prophecy came to pass at this time, and he felt himself being enveloped in pure light much to his surprise. He had visions, but he couldn't tell what all of them were. Afterwards, he ran up the tower, and finally met with Jahi in the flesh, in addition to Gabriel, Vassago, and a demon who turned out to be Omaroch d'Zarnagon, Refan's father and Gabriel's grandfather. Styl was searching for answers, so he asked Jahi questions which turned out to be illuminating when the Matron of Threshold decided to explain in detail what was going on. Lamashtu's earlier attack did not come at the order of Jahi despite her claims to the contrary, though Jahi counted herself responsible due to having raised her as her daughter. However, the conversation was cut short by Vassago who was intent on carrying out his master's mission and to make Jahi and her people side with something called the Northern Horde. Omaroch resisted Vassago and went after the demon to save Gabriel from his clutches, accompanied by several people from the tower. Meanwhile Jahi told to those still present that the conflict which Lust and Vassago had helped set up would end up escalating unless something was done and that everyone not native to Threshold should be escorted out before it would be impossible to leave Threshold. While Omaroch fought Vassago to keep him from interfering, Styl and the others were escorted quickly to Threshold's border albeit via separate paths. After the dwalf got out, he confronted the Sarquil mob which had come to Threshold's border to exact revenge on Lust's attack which they believed had come from Threshold and its denizens who had now been revealed as demons much to their disgust and anger. Styl saw the tense Alentians and Sarquil and knew the demons of Threshold would be just as tense in the safety of their district and that the unrest would escalate into an all-out battle between the three factions just as Lust had promised unless something was done. He tried to defuse the situation by explaining what he'd witnessed, but it didn't go as he had planned because the Sarquil weren't going to leave any demons in the city unpunished. Though Styl planted some ideas in Razoul's head while spotting him among the crowd, the mob at large rejected the dwalf's words of caution as they were angry about having lost many of their people in the earlier ball and because they had lost their desert homeland to invading demons. Styl was dismayed to see Antigonus, once his ally in the fight against Lamashtu, now siding with the mob, and he called the warlock out although the man appeared to ignore the dwalf's words. It was about then that the mob discovered that Styl had been the one who had released Refan, the Sarquil's captive, and they began viewing him as a traitor who had been working for the demons all along. Vitani, who was still recovering from the battle with Lust, approached Styl and told him to stand down so both the Black Guards and Alentians could question him. However, Styl chose not to comply to their demands because he feared he would be unable to do anything to help others while being questioned in captivity. He managed to catch Vitani, whose reaction speed was affected by her condition, off-guard and hit her to escape from her. He did so with little remorse despite once having fought alongside her against the succubi. Styl also took a potshot at the person leading the mob, Sheikh Bashar al-Asad, in the hope of drawing his and the mob's ire away from Threshold. However, he was disappointed to see that Antigonus had seemingly anticipated the move when a magical shield appeared around the Sheikh and made Styl's attack bounce off harmlessly. Not having time to question Antigonus's motives for siding with the mob, Styl fled. A group consisting of Alentians and Sarquil pursued him although much to his dismay most of the mob, Bashar included, stayed focused on Threshold. While on the run, Styl climbed up a ladder, pulled the ladder onto the roof, and finally collapsed, exhausted, hoping that he wouldn't get caught. Choosing a Side Stylianos stirred from his sleep and fell off the roof. He landed on the street below where he was found by Kaisa and her pet dire wolf Liulfr. Kaisa, remembering Styl from Threshold, did her best to heal his injuries. Styl woke up from his unconsciousness, put his shirt and armor back on, and somehow maintained a conversation with the teenager right up until they heard Refan's voice coming out of an alley. They chose to confront him. Refan was in the middle of a... disagreement with his wife, Skye D'Zarnagon, when they decided to interrupt. When Stylianos grasped what was happening, and how Refan had both a wife and a child, two things he very much wanted, and was not grateful for those things, he erupted in rage and attacked Refan, backed up by Liulfr and Skye on the frontlines and Kaisa from the sidelines. Working together, they nearly killed him. Stylianos took it further, chasing Refan down when he started to flee, and nearly flattened him. Then he threw up on the unlucky thief. He was then unfortunately caught by two Sarquil and an ambitious mage, who did not see through Refan's human guise and let him go. Stylianos and Kaisa informed them of their mistake, surrendering and agreeing to be escorted by the mage while the Sarquil chased the thief. They were all taken to the Sarquil mob's location in front of Threshold, where everything Stylianos had been working to prevent was rendered for naught in an instant by the Sarquil Sultana. He made a split second decision and saved Vahista at the last second, shielding her from the violent mob that would have crushed her to death. He had an out-of-body experience, during which he gave Jahi advice for the immediate future, which she did not heed. He was taken by the AMP to jail, then was released a week later on the condition he help quell the riots, which had still not died down. For the next week, he and Vahista worked together to accomplish this, and they did help. But it was more than just a two person job. Stylianos saved Vani from being raped and killed by a group of Sarquil, and escorted her to safety while his partner finished the job of subduing them. Styl got Vani back to her group of surviving, disguised Thresholders, but when they got back to Threshold, who should meet them but Qarinah, in her true form, as a succubus of the Eastern Horde. He was taken aback, though still willing to follow her. They were led to the Den of Chaos, where Jahi, the remainder of the succubi that had infiltrated the Sarquil, and many Sarquil prisoners, had also gone. Stylianos and Vahista had been marked, however, and they showed the way for the Cursed Company, becoming unwitting pawns in their endgame. Stylianos met with Matron Jahi again, though she had changed. He and Qarinah retired early, sharing a bed, a conversation, and some kisses, but nothing more. After a night of debauchery, spilled blood, torture, and death, the Threshold clan was unprepared for a strike against them, believing themselves safely hidden. Stylianos awoke before the attack, roused by approaching wielders of Beacon magic. He sought to warn them, but the hubris of the Eastern Horde's warriors defeated his purpose. He managed to destroy enough of the ceiling during the following Slaughter in the Den of Chaos that many of the clan could escape, but collapsed where he stood. When Stylianos awoke, he was in an infirmary, and hardly able to move. After resting for several hours, he rose, donned his armor and his father's sword, and was given a special pendant that cast an illusion about him, making him seem like a Sarquil man. He departed from the new hideout of the demons left in Alent, and having heard that Jahi was not among them, and unwilling to believe the pregnant Matron had died, he went in search of the collapsed Den. He found the Den, and Jahi, and her daughter Stheno, and her newborn son, Drekavac Gallu. Stylianos led them out of there, and away from the destroyed cavern they had used as a hideout. With some effort, and the cooperation of Refan, Javan, and Izael, the dwalf succeeded in returning Jahi to the Threshold clan. Then he took a nap. Fourth Age Interim Years After the Catastrophe which began the Fourth Age, Stylianos has made his living as a blacksmith in Andaria, though more for mundane things rather than for weapons and armor. In the decades since he has crafted pots, pans, kitchen knives, bucket handles, ladles, horseshoes, doorknobs, chalices, silverware, and a thousand other things. He can still make instruments of warfare, but chooses not to. Thanks to his connections to Duchess Jahi and Baroness Qarinah, Stylianos began working for the Emerald Legion as an auxiliary whenever he was not committed to blacksmithing. Over the decades he was called in to help with a couple of minor incidents, and that was how he earned his new nickname: 'The Vampire of the Emerald Legion.' During these years he had a continuous affair with Qarinah even if that affair was frowned upon by the more pureblood-minded demon nobles. Herald of the Dawn Stylianos knocked over a suspicious lout on his way to work. He showed concern for him and was met with suspicion and mistrust. The dwalf continued on his way, only for the elf to show up later as he worked, considerably cleaner and sober. Drekavac Gallu showed up later, bringing news that Stylianos was being sought out by, of all things, a paladin. He armored up, expecting a fight, but the paladin, Lucius Locke, had come to request his help. He needed his talents as the Vampire to drain a contaminant from a demon child in the slums. Stylianos followed, drained the Beacon magic from the child, and reported the incident to Ronove Thanadar, a Count serving in the Ruby Legion, and Head of the Andarian Academy. Later that night, Stylianos leaped into the arena to protect Emerald Princess Lilim L'Andariel, Ruby Prince Xaphan d'Xuvadon, and his pseudo-surrogate-son Drekavac Gallu from the likes of a deadly assassin and agents of the Imperial Legions who had gone berserk. He teamed up with the Necromancer Janus Todd one last time, and watched as the youngest Gallu killed him to fulfill the ceremonial rite-of-passage. Healed but Never Hidden Stylianos was part of a caravan of "immigrants" to Valencia, actually a group of Andarians infiltrating Valencia to see what part the Valencian government may have played in certain incidents in the Imperial City. He was joined by Qarinah, Empusa Gallu, Drekavac Gallu, and, to his surprise, even Lamashtu Gallu. The group passed into Reign and took rooms in the Crafty Crow Inn/Tavern. Aliases and Nicknames ; Styl : What he is called. It is a common nickname and much easier to say than saying 'Stylianos' every time. ; Valiant : What Ying Zi called him. ; The Vampire of the Emerald Legion : Stylianos's nickname among the ranks of the Emerald Legion, earned from his resurfaced powers. Appearance Stylianos, for a dwarf's child, is very tall, clocking in at about 5'9" without any shoes on his feet. And for an Elf's child, Styl is very broad, measuring about thirty inches from shoulder to shoulder without his armor. His long hair is jet black and tied behind his head in a club, and his lantern jaw is accented by a short but thick beard. His lips are neither full nor thin nor too wide. His nose is hooked, and emerald eyes look out from beneath bushy black brows. He wears a middle grey tunic, ivory breeches, black boots (which add another inch-and-a-half to his height), and a baldric beneath his armor. His armor includes a black breast-and-backplate, a set of black, imposing pauldrons, black vambraces and couters, a black gut-protector, and black greaves and cuisses. A black duster is worn beneath the torso armors but over the leg armors. Flaring back and billowing whenever there is wind, a black cloak is worn atop the man's shoulders. He wears the sword on his right hip. From a demon by the name of Haagenti, he received a magical amulet that disguises him as a Sarquil man, similar in appearance to his own look. His skin is bronze, his cloak, tan, his armor, invisible. It appears that he just wears clothes underneath. He keeps the amulet on while Sarquil are around, as he is a criminal to them. By the Fourth Age, Stylianos has acquired a black, visored great bascinet helm that matches his armor. Personality and Traits Sorrow and regret hound Styl every waking moment of every day. His heart awakened raw and dangerous powers inside himself. He has no idea how to control his magic (a mix of Shadow and Black magics), it just happens. When he casts emotion aside, he cannot call on his magic, for it is tied to his negativity. He's recently acquired a sword that focuses his power for him, and has had greater success using it, but it is still difficult to control. He keeps his pointed ears covered with his hood so he can more easily pass for a human. He avoids the Blood Fever like the plague it is. He has only recently learned of the Plague of Undeath. Grim and pessimistic, he always tries to foresee the unexpected. While not always accurate, his wariness has saved him several times. Powers and Abilities He uses hand-and-a-half swords. His own is a strange shade of blue with a gilded crossguard, measuring about 41" long. He can also cast basic black magic. The magic can be random. With the acquisition of a succubus's magical strength and a sword enchanted to focus magical ability, Stylianos can, with some concentration, cast greater destructive magic of his own will. He is more prone to rage, desperation, and a power rush like this. After some experimentation afforded to him by the Threshold Riot, he has found that, like a fictional vampire, he can suck the magic power out of others to add it to his own. However, such powers come without a filter. It is safer to drink the blood and power of humans, elves, and dwarves, therefore, than the tainted power of demons, despite demon blood carrying more power, and he must rest after every time he does it, so that the magic can filter out naturally and not poison him. As of the events of the Slaughter at the Den of Chaos, Stylianos cannot wield his power. Something in that battle scarred him, and whatever it is blocks his powers from him. This was reversed when the Catastrophe occurred, and since then Stylianos had gained a much greater control of his power. Relationships Aloysius Aloysius faced Stylianos in the Den of Chaos. He saw Stylianos as a man who was either seduced by demons or whose heart was leading him down the wrong path despite noble intentions, but commended Styl's bravery and determination nevertheless. The two had a fierce duel with no definite winner when Janus's betrayal caught them both off-guard, and the Den collapsing prevented either of them from having a rematch. Stylianos called out Aloysius on the hypocrisy of his masters for allowing this situation to escalate to the levels it did, neither acknowledging nor denying Aloysius' points. At another time and place, in different circumstances, Stylianos thinks they might have been civil, perhaps even friendly, towards each other. Jahi Gallu Stylianos met with Jahi while investigating Threshold. Despite the two having opposing opinions on some matters, Stylianos sees her as an ally in need of friends. Jahi's view of him is more jaded. Stylianos proved to her his good intentions, however, and was allowed to stay around the Gallu family, helping to raise her son after the Catastrophe. Lamashtu Gallu Stylianos despises Lamashtu after witnessing the chaos she caused during the King and Queen's Ball. She saw him as any other male, though she admitted that he would make an excellent slave, which was a compliment by her standards. After their explosive sexual encounter, the two were separated. Ironically, both of them ended up joining the rising Andarian Empire. Stylianos still holds some contempt for Lamashtu but seems to have taken note of her apathetic despair with a hint of sympathy. Despite this, he has still not forgiven her for her actions. Lysa Kinley Lysa was Styl's wife and became pregnant with his child. She fled from the Blood Fever with her husband, but was forced to try to give birth on the road. Unfortunately, both mother and child died, which crushed Styl. Although he will always love her, After eleven years of mourning, he has decided to move on with his life and try to find love again. Mathias Styl doesn't know what to think of Mathias, the strange man he met during King and Queen's Ball, although he does know he's perceptive. Perhaps they could be friends, if he'd start by divulging his name. Styl has lost sight of the man in the chaos surrounding them during Lamashtu's attack and hasn't seen him since. Qarinah Qarinah is Stylianos's beloved, and primary lover. He wishes to marry her and have children with her, but she is less enthused about the idea, being something of a career woman. They are flirty when in each other's company, each enjoying their banter. Stylianos is willing to wait to have children with her, as they are both still quite young for their races. Rain Another friendly acquaintance from the night of the ball, Styl bought her a drink to distract her from what Razoul was doing with Lamashtu. After an interesting conversation, the dwalf resolved to save Rain's boyfriend, and ultimately succeeded with help from others. Styl doesn't want Rain to suffer any variation of his own loss, nor does he wish for Razoul to. Refan d'Zarnagon Refan and Stylianos met by coincidence, but both seized the opportunity to work together when it could aid their respective goals. However, Refan abandoned the dark knight and went to pursue his own interests the second he could, leading Stylianos to harbor a resentment against the thief. The two were reunited by chance when Styl witnessed Refan threatening Skye, Refan's wife. Upon learning this, Styl lashed out at the thief from anger at Refan mistreating his wife and son and grief over the loss of his own wife, Lysa, and their son. Refan offered him a chance to walk out unharmed, but Styl instead chose to keep interfering. They clashed, and both were injured and humiliated, but Refan escaped. Since then, Stylianos has considered Refan nothing but a cowardly lout who cannot stand up under the weight of his actions. See also *Blood Fever *Jahi Gallu *Lysa Kinley *Qarinah Category:Characters from Andaria Category:Characters from Libaterra Category:Emerald Legion Category:Fourth Age characters Category:Mixed Ancestry Category:Third Age characters